The Tooth Fairy is a mythical figure that forms part of the ritual of teething in a child’s life across many countries and cultures. But where did the tooth fairy actually originate?
Traditionally, In America, the Tooth Fairy is a character that comes in the middle of the night to exchange a child’s tooth (which has fallen out) for a small amount of money. The child leaves the tooth under their pillow and in the morning, the Tooth Fairy has replaced the tooth with a coin.
Just like the mythology that surrounds other mythical characters such as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy has a complex, historical and cross-cultural beginning.
The Tooth Fairy
In early European childhood rites, when a child’s tooth fell out, it was planted in the ground, with the hope that a new adult tooth would then grow. Closer to our own version, in Viking culture, a small gift or token was given when a child’s first tooth appeared. Even today in Japan, lower baby teeth are thrown upon the roof of a home, whilst upper baby teeth are buried beneath the floor of a house. In Mongolia, a child’s tooth is fed to a young dog, which becomes the child’s guardian angel.
Across world cultures, baby teeth have been burned, left in trees, buried, poked into mouse holes, made into necklaces, ground into powders and exchanged for gifts and money. Tooth Fairy stories continue to develop alongside the society that they inhabit.
In American culture, The Tooth Fairy had historically evolved a distinctly American history by the early 1900′s. Over the next few decades, the story of the Tooth Fairy grew to become part of American cultural mythology. In 1927, a play for children by Esther Watkins Arnold entitled The Tooth Fairy was staged. Lee Rogow’s 1949 children’s story of the same name is thought to be the first time that the Tooth Fairy features as a character in a published story.
From there, the character expands throughout American culture through films, plays, poetry, and of course, through the oral tradition passed on within families. The story of the Tooth Fairy is now seen as an important element of the rites of passage for American children into adulthood.
Over time, the value of teeth has changed. Back in 1950, if a tooth was left under a pillow, the child received a quarter. By the Seventies, it was a dime. These days, it’s closer to two dollars, or even five in some families. Of course, the increase in the value of the tooth demonstrates how the Tooth Fairy has kept up with inflation over the years!
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